Finally, the long-awaited video for Vic Spencer’s “National Geographical”, featuring Chance the Rapper. This was one of my favorite tracks on Spencer’s Vic Greenthumbs, and this continues the streak of ether that Spencer has been unmercifully doling out to his listeners of late. Check the fly shit: Vic Spencer and Co. blowing in the zoo. Gotta love it.
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Album Review: “Middle Class Ignorance”, Pavy
LAWD, are there some up-and-coming young MCs in Chicago who are killing it right now. 20 year-old Pavy is definitely one of them. His album, Middle Class Ignorance, was gifted to us on January 17, and to that point, most hip-hop fans had only heard the single, “Triumphant”, which was produced by Dutch Cannon. Cannon engineered, mixed and mastered MCI from GA, and is making a name for himself in the Chicago hip-hop community.
MCI starts with an actual song, and not intro, which always pleases me. “The Uprising” has a relatively smooth sound and immediately introduces us to Pavy’s flow: “See, Middle Class Ignorance is more than an album/It’s the message of a culture who was feeling nostalgia/Yearning for the past for consecutive hours/As it seems growing up, has never devoured”. A common theme for an increasing number of y0ung lyricists is to articulate their passion and desire to change the status quo in hip-hop, and Pavy definitely accomplishes this on “The Uprising”.
“Triumphant”, which was featured on this page earlier, is dope in terms of lyrics and production. If you’re a fan of Pavy, you don’t need me to summarize this track; you should’ve already heard it 100 times. “Mission Statement”, featuring D2G, has a completely different tone to it than “Triumphant”. This is, well, a mission statement for both rappers, indeed. D2G, who I’ve been admittedly looking out for more since Hard Bars, literally attacks the beat with his verse, sounding almost like an army general instead of rapper. However, it works, as the contrast between the two voices and their verses serve this one well.
The album takes a turn on “Hands Up”, which was produced by John F 30. This sounds a bit more like a club song, in regards to the beat, cadence of Pavy and hook. I’m not a fan of club songs, or songs that resemble them, even if not that closely. However, this doesn’t really sound that bad; just different from the first 3 songs on MCI. “Lift It Up” practically follows suit, and the styling of the song is similar to “Hands Up”, although the beat is a bit grimier. Shoutout to Pavy for “I’m moving faster than the tempo in some techno”, though. As someone who isn’t afraid to admit that he’s been moved a time or 71 by techno music, it’s always nice to hear the genre get a smidget of love on a rap track. Pavy slows it down a bit more on “Typical Gangsta Shit” and allows the guys with the huge, expensive sound systems in their cars to have a track they can play to crunch to in their residential areas. KP Beats produced this track; I’m sure the guys and gals with the 15s in their trunk will love this one.
An interlude, “Stream of Consciousness”, reintroduces listeners to Pavy’s detailed and oft-articulate flow. “So don’t judge with a diligence/Thinking ’cause it’s contrary, that must mean it’s ignorant”, Pavy spits. In my opinion, Pavy addresses the male and female bullshit artists and even goes as far to tell rappers that just because someone isn’t humping them, doesn’t mean they hate them. A lot of whiny, older rappers should listen to this one every morning before taking to the interwebs to bitch about not being billionaires yet. I’m not sure how long it took Pavy to pen this song, but I tip my toque to him for this one.
Pavy gets his Seinfeld on with “Our Pointless Rap Song”. No, the song isn’t about nothing, but more about pointless rappers. A fairly scatterbrained flow by Pavy is accompanied by the ever-entertaining Vic Spencer, who precedes his verse with “My shit pointless, but it’s on point though, ya dig”. If you’re like me and love those groovy 70s police movies/TV shows, you’ll find yourself enamored with Dutch Cannon’s prodution on this track. Pavy brings Vic Spencer back into the fray, along with The Boy Illinois, D2G and JDP on “Peer Pressure (Loud)”. Before the song actually starts, Spencer freely talks about kidnapping Pavy, who does not get it on with Mary Josephine, and forcing her on him. Once again, Cannon kills the beat, as Pavy and Co. take turns paying lyrical homage to “loudpack”.
To be honest, I wasn’t really into “Neglect” and “Confusion” (the latter’s beat did nothing for me), but the battle of good versus evil on “Left Shoulder vs Right Shoulder” reminded me of DMX’s own battles on his own “Damien” and “The Omen”. Internal struggles are a part of everyone’s lives, and Pavy proved he’s no different. “Rage” has a rock-and-roll feel, which was a delight to me. Then there’s the liberating “Free”, which once again displays Pavy’s passion for his craft, and that is followed by “Hold On”. Ashley Laschelle provides vocals on this track, and her soulful voice along with Pavy’s lyrics make this song one of my favorites on the album.
The album’s finale, “MCI Outro”, produced by Capital K, samples an oldie (I won’t tell you which one, though) and serves as a great ending to MCI. At just over two and a half minutes long, it’s an appropriate farewell from Pavy. (This track was technically not the finale, as this title goes to “Put Me In Ya Club”, featuring Cashflow Ellis. In my opinion, this should’ve been a teaser that wasn’t on the album, or at the very least, a gaudy ass video.)
It is astonishing how mature a 20 year-old can sound, especially nowadays, with all of the glitz and glamor that has consumed the youth. I’m sure as Pavy grows, his music will continue to do the same. He has a highly intelligent perspective on what’s important, and it was beyond great to hear a rapper from Chicago not litter us with tales of gangbanging, toting guns, selling drugs and having sex with random women. The features were great, the production was better, and the overall album should be a huge success, and not just in the city of Chicago.
I’d like to start this post by stating that I know the Chicago Cubs haven’t won a World Series title since 1908. I’m fully aware that they haven’t even appeared in a World Series since 1945. Yes, I was a witness to the craptastic 2011 season and I will sit through what I assume will be an equally craptastic 2012 season. No, I don’t think that Theo and Co. means the Cubs will win the next 78 World Series titles, nor do I believe that the Cubs are the center of the universe. I just wanted to clear that up for those of you who assume that there’s no such thing as a Cubs fan who isn’t the epitome of gullible.
The original tweet above was posted by me after an alleged Pale Hose fan tweeted an admission that the upcoming 2012 Major League Baseball season will be a…
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Mixtape Download: “Driving 88”, Rockie Fresh
The, well, fresh ass 20 year-old Chicago MC Rockie Fresh finally gifted us with Driving 88 yesterday after essentially teasing listeners with tidbits of the project here and there of late. Artists Phil Ade, Casey Veggies and Chicago’s own, King Louie, make guest appearances on 88. Fresh gets production from The Gift, The Kickdrums and Blended Babies, the last of which has gotten all types of attention on my iTunes lately. I loved his rookie mixtape, Rockie’s Modern Life, and I’m sure Driving 88 will further cement Rockie Fresh’s status as a young MC that Chicago–and the rest of the country–needs to look out for, if they haven’t already.
Download: “Driving 88”, Rockie Fresh
Mixtape Download: “Middle Class Ignorance”, Pavy
Pavy, short for Progressive Ambitious Vigorous Youngin’, gives us Middle Class Ignorance, a mixtape that I have been waiting to hear since one of the tape’s singles, “Triumphant”, made love to my eardrums about a month and change ago. Pavy is a young go-getting lyricist from the City of Wind with a relatively old flow that is well-masked by his boyish voice. Middle Class Ignorance was mostly produced by Dutch Cannon, with a few “guest beats” by producers such as Coop, Matic Beats, Capital K and others. Some artists featured on this tape are Vic Spencer, D2G, Cashflow Ellis and Ashley Laschelle. Even fresher than the beats and lyrics are the cover art; a black-and-white picture showing Pavy with who I assume are his parents, or at least two well-dressed older people. The review will be up by the end of the week.
Give this joint a listen: “Middle Class Ignorance”, Pavy
VIDEO: “Running Out”, ElSii
Found this goodie in my inbox a few days ago. ElSii is a 19 year-old artist from Chicago. She’s currently a college student (Loyola, perhaps?), and from what I’ve heard on “Running Out”, her flow is pretty dope. Not too sure about the Phoenix Suns cap she’s rocking, but the video was fairly well-done, overshadowing that slight faux pas.
Check out ElSii’s website for a bit more info: ElSii
VIDEO: “Prayer for Haiti”, Nicholaus Kane
It’s been just over two years since a massive, 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti at a depth of 8.1 miles. The USGS reports that it was the strongest earthquake since 1770 to affect the area that is now known as Haiti. Nicholaus Kane gives us a bit of a history lesson about the suffering nation and the haunting images serve as a reminder that for many, life is short and extremely unfair.
Mixtape Download: “All Work, No Play”, eGo (Hosted by Vic Lloyd)
eGo is a 20 year-old rapper, writer and singer from Chicago. His mixtape, All Work, No Play, consists of 18 tracks and features production from a number of Chicago beatsmiths, including C-Sick and The Odd Couple. It is hosted by Leaders 1354’s Vic Lloyd. I haven’t listened to this yet, but I will indeed be pressing play in the immediate future. My ace in the hole received this not too long ago, and she will review it very shortly.
Video: “I Swear”, Kidz In The Hall ft. Vic Spencer (Dir. by Tony Shane)
Kidz In The Hall’s latest album, Occasion, is right up there with their rookie release, School Was My Hustle, as one of my favorite hip-hop albums to listen to. “I Swear” features Vic Spencer and the visuals, courtesy of Tony Shane, are amazing. Viewers get an abbreviated tour of Chicago, traveling from Naledge’s childhood home to Lake Shore Drive at night to Harold’s Chicken in Hyde Park. Both Naledge and Spencer deliver bars that are sure to elicit excitement from the heads, and the appearance of a crispy Maserati after the Sun has gone down doesn’t hurt the cause, either. FRESH.
Album Review: YMID, Milli Mars.
While I promised to have this review up a few days ago, I got a bit sidetracked by Chocolate Thai, vodka and Ali. However, I’m no longer distracted…for now.
About a week ago, during a conversation with Oscar and Martina, the latter of whom is originally from Houston but now lives in Chicago, the topic of Southern rappers came up. Scarface and the Geto Boys, OutKast, T.I., Ludacris, Big KRIT, et cetera. Martina mentioned that her younger sister had been hearing of someone relatively new to the scene. Milli Mars, a rapper from San Antonio, was the aforementioned newbie. YMID is his debut release. Read on…
The album starts with “One Day”, featuring Emma Diaz. She slowly sings over a rather serene-sounding beat, and upon first hearing it, you’d think it was an introduction to an uptempo R&B album. Milli Mars does not appear on this track and I actually think that it was a wise choice; Diaz’s smooth voice was more than enough to hold it down. “YMID” follows the opener and Mars begins the song, spitting, “My mind’s fucked/I need some sanctuary…”. As someone who is admittedly a little crazy herself, I loved this. Little did I know that those seven words would essentially set the tone for the rest of the album. The production on this one is nuts, which complements Mars’ flow. The same can be said about the production on “God’s Hand”, featuring Chris Conde. The sound is a little eerie, and Conde’s vocals at the end make the track even eerier.
While the first three tracks were collectively okay, “FDR” grabbed ahold of my ears and wouldn’t let go. The beat took me back to my raving, E-popping high school days and Mars seemed to assert himself a bit more, lyrically. “Now peep, see how they livin’/And I ain’t fightin’ over no pussy like Scott Pilgrim”, Mars spit. Referencing Scott Pilgrim, my favorite movie and comic book character of all-time, will always get love from me. “U Ain’t Sayin’ Nuthin'” follows this, and the lyrics tell any half-hearted listener exactly that. It took a few listens, but I now like “WHATTHEFUC”, featuring See-Saw and “Mafia In Dubai”. The former is, well, loud with rather subdued lyrics by Mars. It sounds a bit more like a party record than most of the other tracks, and that is mainly because of See-Saw on the hook and “final words”. See-Saw kind of sounds like a rattier, more Westernized version of M.I.A. Nothing about the lyrics on the latter track stood out to me, but the beat and chick intermittently halfway moaning got my ears’ attention.
“Some Of These Girls” is easily the sexiest sounding track on YMID. Mars goes into detail about some of the women in his life, painting a vivid picture of one particular dame and what she looks like up against the wall while…you know. His friend even calls to warn that one of his bed mates knows that they “roll cream” and Mars responds by rapping that he’ll have to defuse the situation by grabbing the “4-4”.
After the completely unnecessary “Pussy Interlude” comes the equally unnecessary “Pussy”. Don’t get me wrong. I love pussy so very, very much. I even love the word, but when it’s repeated about 1283982793 times, it loses its sexiness. What makes “Pussy” even worse is the wack ass meowing in the background. If you download this album, skip both of these tracks. Better yet, delete them.
Luckily, Mars recovers with “The Alarm”. I posted its video on this page after watching it 22 times straight on YouTube. Once again, maniacal production accompanies Mars equally maniacal flow. The video is strange and the song does it injustice, in fact. I suggest you watch the video to get the full effect of the song. “Wasted all day/Killing all the Capulets” is how “Holly” starts. “Holly” appears to be a woman Mars has lost, but everything is so loud, I can barely understand what Mars is saying. That’s all I can remember, besides the rock-themed beat and perfect hook, screamed by a female while the production is almost absent. It is beautifully grungy, though. I could listen to this song forever and a day simply because of the hard ass sound.
“Control” tackles political issues, and begins with clips of people opining on the shitty ways of politicians on both sides. You can even hear Bill O’Reilly’s bitch ass whining about the “smear tactics” of the left. While Mars is no Talib or Mos Def in terms of political consciousness, the listener can’t help but think that if we were to band together, there’s no way the government could “control” us. “Democracy” is a technical term, according to Mars. After going in a completely different direction from the rest of the album on “Control”, Mars jumps back into the fray with “Nov. 2nd”. This beat is my favorite on YMID and I’d go as far as saying the track is my favorite as well. The 5-star rating came out quickly for this one, and this track alone makes the entire album halfway decent.
YMID comes to an end with “NIOSA”. Besides what I’m sure is something in Spanish being repeated in the background at a high pitch, this is the most normal-sounding track on the album. While I wish he would’ve ended the album the way he started it; with Diaz doing her version of crooning over a calming beat, I actually liked “NIOSA”. He pays homage to his hometown and admonishes “watered down music”, the latter of which I absolutely loathe.
Lyrically, Milli Mars certainly isn’t the greatest. I don’t think that’s his objective, though. For some reason, I find Southern rappers to be a bit more unique than the rest of their counterparts. They seem to be a bit more willing to reach outside of the box to express themselves artistically, and by YMID‘s production alone (Whiz Kidda of The Whiz Kids), this is the case with Mars. For a debut release, Mars and his listeners should be pleased. He’s got some refining to do, but YMID will definitely stay in rotation on my iTunes.
Download: “YMID”, Milli Mars (Prod. By Whiz Kidda)
Milo Kamalani Lives Here 